Worry and Emotionality as Components of Test Anxiety: Replication and Further Data

Abstract

Two components of test anxiety, worry (W) or cognitive concern about performance and emotionality (E) or autonomic arousal to the test situation, were examined in relation to temporal changes, expectancy of success ratings, and actual performance on a final examination. Consonant with findings from previous research, E scores dropped significantly following completion of the examination irrespective of initial level of test anxiety or performance expectancy. As hypothesized, W was more highly correlated with expectancy of success ratings than E but the prediction that W scores would not change following the examination was replicated only for the relatively low W Ss. High W Ss evidenced significant decrements in pre- to post-examination assessments of W, suggesting that these scores had, perhaps, been incremented by the perceived aversiveness of the test-taking situation. The W component of test anxiety was more highly associated with actual performance on the final than E with high W Ss performing significantly poorer than low W Ss. E level was related to actual performance only when W level was relatively low. It was pointed out that differential changes in W at the high and Low values of this variable had not been observed previously because samples in previous research did not include Ss in the upper range of W scores.